Will the rivalry between Ghani and Abdullah undermine the Afghan peace process? The | News – Up News Info

Hours after the current president of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, was declared on Tuesday Winner of the presidential elections of September 28, runner-up Abdullah Abdullah contested the delayed results, highlighting the power struggle between the two leaders.

After a count and a total delay of almost five months, Abdullah, who served as executive director of Afghanistan for the past five years, once again questioned the impartiality of the country's electoral process, in a repeat of the 2014 elections It was marred by irregularities.

%MINIFYHTML2663fc43ac6ab14c40ee29807449dcee11%%MINIFYHTML2663fc43ac6ab14c40ee29807449dcee12%

On Tuesday, Abdullah announced that he would establish a parallel government and one day later, in his capacity as executive director, he prohibited election officials from traveling outside the country.

Their movements are ahead of possible intra-Afghan talks between the government and the Taliban armed group aimed at achieving long-term peace.

The talks are based on the successful signing of a peace agreement between the Taliban and the US government. UU., Outlining the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan and the Taliban's promise not to allow Afghan territory to be used as a launching pad for attacks outside the country.

On Saturday, the West-backed Kabul government, the United States and the Taliban announced the start of a one-week "violence reduction,quot; (RIV) that would culminate in the signing of the peace agreement on February 29.

Hours after the RIV pact took hold, reports emerged that Abdullah replaced the governors. from the provinces of Sar-e-Pul and Baghlan. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) expressed concern about the action and said it could jeopardize the peace process.

"Resorting to force or any other illegal means while efforts are being made to reduce violence, with the expectation that it may lead to the initiation of intra-Afghan peace negotiations, jeopardizes the hope of population peace. " The statement said.

After bitterly contesting the results of the 2014 elections, the Americans brought Abdullah and Ghani to the negotiating table and agreed to lead the government together, but the fissures within the national unity government often came to light.

His five years of association were often plagued by disagreements, disputes and disagreements, which stopped the government on several occasions.

But the recent dispute between the two most important leaders in the country could not have come at a more delicate time for Afghanistan.

The president of the United States, Donald Trump, initiated talks with the Taliban in 2018 as part of his campaign promise to take American troops home. The two sides are about to reach an agreement, which can see the end of almost 19 years of war.

The Taliban have been fighting NATO and Afghan government forces since 2001 when the group was overthrown in a US-led invasion.

If the agreement between the United States and the Taliban is signed, the Taliban and Afghan leaders would sit down to discuss the country's political future. The Taliban made the agreement with the United States their condition to agree to speak with the Kabul government, which for years called the "puppet,quot; of the United States.

A broad political consensus is critical when Kabul comes face to face with the Taliban as part of the intra-Afghan peace talks. However, the rivalry between Ghani and Abdullah could turn into violence that would weaken the hand of the Afghan government in the negotiations.

"This has created fragmentation in the Kabul government. This will certainly lead to a weaker position in Kabul when they sit face to face with the Taliban in the intra-Afghan dialogue," said Habib Wardak, a security analyst based in Kabul. Jazeera

"But even before reaching the point of sitting with the Taliban, it will be a challenge to form an all-inclusive team and build trust among political elites, most of whom reject the outcome of the presidential elections."

In addition to fighting to maintain consensus, the Afghan government also faces growing socio-economic problems, such as unemployment, deteriorating security conditions and the collapse of the economy.

Mariam Solaimankhail, a member of the Afghan parliament, said the election results should indicate a clear mandate to the government "to participate in any discussion of national importance."

"The results of the elections were necessary for the continuation of the democratic process. No discussion with any group should alter the constitution, democracy and general achievements of the last two decades," he said.

The counting of votes in the September 2019 elections has been involved in controversy from the beginning, with repeated delays in the results attributed to technical issues, accusations of fraud and protests by candidates.

The Talibans announcement at the time that it was boycotting the elections and its threats of violent unrest combined with a general distrust of politicians and corruption to prevent many Afghans from voting.

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) announced preliminary results in December, saying that Ghani had won re-election by a narrow margin in a vote that had a total participation of more than 1.8 million. Abdullah dismissed the results as fraudulent.

On Tuesday, the IEC announced the final results after a recount, saying that Ghani had won with 50.64 percent of the votes, surpassing Abdullah, which obtained 39.52 percent.

Abdullahs camp was swift in its rejection, casting a shadow over the future of the democratic process in the war-torn country.

"They sided with Ghani. They worked directly for them. They surrendered to their power, status, influence and money," he told Al Jazeera Faraidoon Khwazoon, spokesman for Abdullah's campaign team.

"Therefore, not only we, but also the commission of electoral complaints, monitoring organizations and other teams did not participate in the process of audit and vote counting and this process lost its legitimacy and credibility. That is why the result and the result does not have legitimacy too. "

In addressing Abdullah's announcement to form a parallel government, which could create a constitutional crisis, Khwazoon said: "Our government will carry out its oath ceremony We have already formed groups and will also announce our high-level appointments."

Saif Khalid Sadat, a senior member of the Ghani electoral team, rejected the accusations of the Abdullah camp, saying the election results had been announced by the IEC, as it was within its legal authority, and "should be implemented by all the media,quot;.

"The elections were held successfully on the basis of all electoral laws and procedures. Ghani gives high priority to peace talks with the Taliban and I think it would be better for an elected government to negotiate with the Taliban," he told Al Jazeera

Some analysts have accused Abdullah of pursuing narrow political interests.

"Abdullah's complaints are not political and are based only on his narrow personal interest and on the interests of many warlords who are part of his political coalition," a political analyst from Kabul told Al Jazeera Harun Mir.

"President Ghani has campaigned for the preservation of the republic and the democratic constitutional political process. However, Abdullah Abdullah and his coalition partners hope that through a new provisional government, they can preserve their seats and political influence."

Sadat, Ghani's aide, reiterated the importance of all Afghan political forces joining under the umbrella of the "government of Afghanistan,quot; when doors open for intra-Afghan talks in the near future.

"All parties should reach a common goal that could end this war forever."

With reports from Mohsin Khan Mohmand in Kabul

Read more:

Will the rivalry between Ghani and Abdullah undermine the Afghan peace process? The | News - Up News Info